London, England – April 2,2025 – In a sensational last-minute twist, Manchester’s Bradley Rea (20-1, 10 KO’s) is stepping up on three days’ notice to challenge reigning European light-heavyweight champion Daniel ‘Blenda’ Dos Santos (22-1, 10 KO’s) in the headline bout of the GBM boxing event airing live on DAZN this Friday, April 4th from York Hall in London. 

Rea has seized his chance after Shakan Pitters was forced to withdraw due to injury on Tuesday. Pitters may require surgery for the injury, which meant his long-awaited showdown with Dos Santos could not be moved to a future GBM card. 

Manchester man Rea is nicknamed ‘The Sting’ for good reason. He exploded onto the radar of British boxing fans in 2021 when he joined the Sky Sports stable with a TKO of Lee Cutler, followed soon afterwards by a first-round stoppage of Craig McCarthy.

Having lost a close decision to Tyler Denny when challenging for the English middleweight championship, Rea – who stands 6’4” – made the decision to step up to light-heavyweight and stop making the brutal weight cuts he needed to compete at middleweight. He’s since gone 6-0, with five of those wins by stoppage.

“I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this. Nobody wants to fight me, I’m too much of a risk, so I always keep myself fit and ready because I knew an opportunity like this would come. This is a very winnable fight for me and what most excites me about winning the European title is that people then have to fight me, they can’t avoid me like they have been doing,” says Rea.

“So I had no hesitation in stepping up on short notice. I feel like headlining on DAZN for GBM puts me right back where I feel like I belong and I am more than willing to roll the dice for an opportunity like this one.”

GBM CEO Izzy Asif saluted Rea’s readiness for battle. “I tell guys all the time – stay ready. You don’t know when a big opportunity will suddenly land on you out of the blue. This is one of those moments and Bradley Rea was ready to answer the call. He’s fighting fit, he’s ready to go, he’s got a great pedigree and he’s got heavy hands. This is going to be a very, very hard-fought fight on Friday night on DAZN and I am very excited to be ringside for it.”

Friday night’s GBM: Once Upon A Time In London card is now as follows:

EBU Light-Heavyweight Championship – 12 x 3

Daniel Dos Santos vs. Bradley Rea

IBF European Super-Lightweight Championship – 10 x 3

Tiernan Bradley vs. Ben Crocker

British & Commonwealth Super-Flyweight Championship – 10 x 2

Emma Dolan vs. Lauren Parker

Welterweight Contest – 8 x 3

Kieran Molloy vs. Ricardo Crepaldi

Heavyweight Contest 6 x 3

Hughie Fury vs. Dan Garber

Light-Heavyweight Contest 6 x 3

Gradus Kraus V Tony Amouaku

Super Lightweight Contest 6 x 2

Lilie Winch V Valgerdur Goodsteinsdottir

London, England – February 12th, 2025 – The drama between EBU light-heavyweight champion Daniel ‘Blenda’ Dos Santos and British challenger Shakan Pitters takes another twist today as their highly-anticipated clash has now been officially rescheduled for York Hall, London on Friday, April 4th, live on DAZN.

Initially due to defend his belt against Pitters last week, Dos Santos was removed from the bout at the 11th hour as France’s boxing federation declared him to have failed a pre-fight medical test. 

Dos Santos has now successfully overturned that finding following a battery of enhanced tests and scans which have proved conclusively that he is clear to compete and that the initial finding was an error. 

The EBU has confirmed that Dos Santos remains the reigning, defending European Light-Heavyweight Champion. On Friday, April 4th, he will finally make his highly-anticipated defence against the surging British challenger Pitters.

April’s card will also feature undefeated super-lightweights Ben Crocker and Tienan Bradley, with Crocker defending his IBF European Super-Lightweight Championship, and Emma Dolan defending her British and Commonwealth Super-Flyweight Championship against Lauren Parker.

GBM CEO Izzy Asif said, “It’s been an unbelievably dramatic start to the year but the delay has only heightened anticipation and we are delighted now to take this European Light-Heavyweight Championship clash to the capital. Daniel Dos Santos and Shakan Pitters are raring to go and we’ve got a stacked undercard coming together for what will be another big night of British boxing on DAZN.”

Pitters underwent three different changes of opponent following Dos Santos’ removal from the originally-scheduled February 7th bout. 

On fight night he stopped Manchester-based Iranian veteran Bahadur Karami in two rounds, dedicating the fight to his late father, who passed away in December.

Sheffield, UK – (February 15th, 2024) – The world title dreams of Birmingham skyscraper Shakan Pitters take a giant step closer to fruition in February as he faces reigning European light-heavyweight champion Daniel Dos Santos (22-1, 10 KO’s) in the main event of GBM: A New Dawn at the Canon Medical Arena, Sheffield, airing live and exclusively worldwide on DAZN.

The towering technician – who at 6’6 is one of the tallest fighters in the division – has maneuvered himself into the mandatory challenger position for the Frenchman’s title and will make a strong case for himself as a world-level contender if he can capture the EBU title in style on Friday, February 7th. 

But former military man Dos Santos has walked a hard road to get where he is. Born and raised in one of France’s most notorious ghettos, he spent nearly four years in a prison cell before boxing and the army provided him with pathways out of the street life.

His status as reigning European champion means everything to him and – given his sole career loss being to interim WBO world champion Joshua Buatsi – he harbours world title ambitions of his own. Dos Santos aims to make a statement against Pitters (19-2, 6 KO’s) when they go to war in Sheffield next year. 

“2025 will be the year I cement myself at the top of the light-heavyweight division, starting in February with this European title challenge against Daniel Dos Santos. He’s tough, experienced, and has a military background, so you know he’s ready for war. Beating him on February 7th and taking his title will be a big statement and a major step toward world title contention.” said Pitters.

Also confirmed for the February card is surging super-bantamweight Tysie Gallagher, who squares off against Ebanie Jones in a triple-title clash with her British, Commonwealth, and WBO European Super-Bantamweight Championships on the line.

Defending champion Gallagher has a history with Jones from their amateur days and the bragging rights from this professional showdown will be almost as important to the winner as the belts they will walk away with.

Rising middleweight Shakiel ‘Dr Steel’ Thompson (13-0, 9 KO’s) also returns to the ring on February 7th, where he will make his second defence of his IBF European Championship and WBO Global Middleweight Championship titles.

GBM promoter Izzy Asif said, “Every year gets bigger and bigger for us. 2024 has been huge and we’re carrying that momentum straight into 2025 with two big fights already confirmed for our first event of the new year. Shakan Pitters is a fighter we believe has the potential to go all the way. He’s got a very tough test here against European light-heavyweight champion Daniel Dos Santos and if he passes it then it will make a strong statement about his level and his ability to achieve his world title dreams. 

“The triple-title battle between Tysie Gallagher and Ebonie Jones is going to be exceptional as well. They really respect each other outside the ring but they’ve got a history from their amateur days, they’ve had some previous tear-ups, and this one is going to be a really explosive encounter now they’re meeting in the professional ranks for the first time with so much on the line.

“Our February 7th event is airing live on DAZN once again and we couldn’t be happier with DAZN as our exclusive worldwide broadcast partner. They’re investing so much in boxing, they’ve been great for the sport and with GBM being the UK’s fastest-growing professional boxing promotion, we think we’re in the best place we could be with the best partner we could have.”

Adam Smith, GBM Head of Broadcast, said, “GBM starts the new year with a bang! Shakan Pitters is ready to show the world his potential in this crucial headline clash against a real warrior in Daniel Dos Santos who is really going to bring the firepower on fight night. Before that, we’ve got this mouthwatering clash between two real rivals in Tysie Gallagher and Ebonie Jones when they set out to claim top-girl status. And of course the return of ‘Dr Steel’ Shakiel Thompson. It’s a brilliant start to the year and I am very much looking forward to calling the action live on DAZN from the Canon Medical Arena on February 7th in Sheffield.”

The Friday, February 7th event is the first event of an expected ten-event 2025 calendar for GBM, the fastest-growing professional boxing promotion in the UK. Further bouts for the card will be announced in the near future, along with additional event dates for the first half of 2025. 

Tickets for the event will be on sale soon, with prices and details to be announced in the near future.

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